Fortex

Status

Realised

Country

Netherlands

Strategy

Mid Cap

Sector

Business Services

Entry

Jun-00

Exit

Jul-05

Fund

IK 2000

Website

cleanlease.com/nl

News

Industri Kapital divests Fortex to ABN AMRO C...Industri Kapital forms new textile rental gro...

Leading provider of textile rental logistics

Fortex ("the Company") was a leading provider of textile rental and industrial laundry services in the Benelux. Main customer categories included hospitals (bed linen, hygienic products & work-wear) and different kinds of companies (uniforms & work-wear). Other activities included the provision of specialist cleaning services for surgical tools and textiles.

Fortex was formed through the combination of three family-owned companies in 2000. Rentex Fortex, based in Eindhoven, covered the Southern Netherlands, with 9 plants in the region. Derere Industries, headquartered outside Brugge, was one of the market leaders in Belgium. Theo Deckers in Antwerp specialised in rental and laundry services to hotels. The three companies employed over 1,200 people in Belgium and the Netherlands.

After the IK 2000 Fund formed Fortex in March 2000, the group was sold to ABN AMRO Capital in July 2005. The Company now operates under the name CleanLease.

Our Value Creation Strategy

During our ownership, we worked alongside the management team to:

  • Participate in market consolidation through add-on acquisitions;
  • Introduce a plant rationalisation programme; and
  • Shift from a family–owned business to a corporation.